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U.S. Interior Dept. grounding Chinese-made drones, will allow for emergency uses
Reuters ^ | January 29, 2020 | by David Shepardson

Posted on 01/29/2020 9:09:33 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Interior Department is grounding its fleet of about 800 Chinese-made drones but will allow their use for emergency situations, the department said on Wednesday.

U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt issued an order affirming a temporary cessation of non-emergency operations adopted in October as it ensures “cybersecurity, technology and domestic production concerns are adequately addressed,” the department said.

The order allows for approved situations for emergency purposes, such as fighting wildfires, search and rescue, and dealing with natural disasters that may threaten life or property.” It also allows for training operations.

Bernhardt in October also ordered a halt to additional Interior department purchases of Chinese-made drones.

China’s SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd, the world’s largest maker of consumer drones, said in a statement on Wednesday it is “extremely disappointed” in the Interior order that “inappropriately treats a technology’s country of origin as a litmus test for its performance, security and reliability.”

The company added that the concerns have “little to do with security and are instead part of a politically-motivated agenda to reduce market competition and support domestically produced drone technology, regardless of its merits.”

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: china; drones

1 posted on 01/29/2020 9:09:33 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

US interior dpt: “Hey lets buy 800 drones from the Chinese communists.” Shucks, what could go worng?


2 posted on 01/29/2020 9:19:27 AM PST by corkoman
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Why in the heck are we buying Chinese drones?


3 posted on 01/29/2020 9:23:43 AM PST by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizens Are Born Here of Citizen Parents_Know Islam, No Peace-No Islam, Know Peace)
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To: corkoman

All it takes for them to hijack it is a single line in their code.


4 posted on 01/29/2020 9:24:02 AM PST by Vigilanteman (The politicized state destroys aspects of civil society, human kindness and private charity.)
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To: Lurkinanloomin

Because most of the top people in industry, academia, and government, are on their knees, in the full Lewinsky sense, for Red China.

Didn’t you hear the Chair of the Chemistry Dept at H-A-R-V-A-R-D was arrested yesterday by the FBI, for under-the-table dealings with Red China?


5 posted on 01/29/2020 9:34:13 AM PST by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change with out notice.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
How stupid---buy drones to be used for our security from the biggest cyber thieves going--the Chinese. How do you know they didn't embed harmful code into the drones, just waiting for the right keystroke by them to activate? Why can't we buy drones made IN THE U.S.? Save a few pennies to have to spend millions fixing the damage they could cause.

Duh.

6 posted on 01/29/2020 10:04:34 AM PST by EinNYC
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To: Lurkinanloomin

“Why in the heck are we buying Chinese drones?”

************************************************************

Simple.

Low cost. Reliability. Performance. So simple to use a cave man can do it. Results.

My company uses nothing but DJI drones for our photogrammetric products. There are other companies, but there is nothing that can compete in terms of the 5 main categories listed above.

However, we do not take them onto military properties. A couple years ago it was discovered that DJI has a rather nasty way of hijacking imagery (in real time) to the motherland. This is due to the fact that in the normal manner DJI products are used a live internet connection is maintained that — unknowing to the user — can download data direct to the Chinese.


7 posted on 01/29/2020 10:05:05 AM PST by Sir Bangaz Cracka (wHAT A HOT STEAMING LOAD.)
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To: Sir Bangaz Cracka

Even a cave man would have figured out that they would include that capability.


8 posted on 01/29/2020 10:11:30 AM PST by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizens Are Born Here of Citizen Parents_Know Islam, No Peace-No Islam, Know Peace)
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To: EinNYC

They get a live feed from every drone.
That’s the danger.


9 posted on 01/29/2020 10:12:50 AM PST by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizens Are Born Here of Citizen Parents_Know Islam, No Peace-No Islam, Know Peace)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Seems to me that’s it’s appropriate to treat the country of origin as a security risk.

And I’m all for boosting domestic production.


10 posted on 01/29/2020 10:16:40 AM PST by DannyTN
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Which demonrat put through that purchase and what was his $$$ kickback?


11 posted on 01/29/2020 11:46:44 AM PST by bgill
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Is there something BESIDES Chinese-made drones? DJI totally dominates the global market.


12 posted on 01/29/2020 11:50:44 AM PST by montag813
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